Optical device

ABSTRACT

An optical phase shifter may include a waveguide core that has a top surface, and a semiconductor contact that is laterally displaced relative to the waveguide core and is electrically connected to the waveguide core. A top surface of the semiconductor contact is above the top surface of the waveguide core. The waveguide core may include a p-type core region and an n-type core region. A p-type semiconductor region may be in physical contact with the n-type core region of the waveguide core, and an n-type semiconductor region may be in physical contact with the p-type core region of the waveguide core. A phase shifter region and a light-emitting region may be disposed at different depth levels, and the light-emitting region may emit light from a phase shifter region that is in a position adjacent to the light-emitting region.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/499,468 filed 27, Apr. 2017 which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/329,178, filed Apr. 28, 2016, the entirecontents of each is hereby incorporated herein by reference to themaximum extent allowable by law.

BACKGROUND

Optical devices that emit optical radiation have a wide range ofapplicability, including in Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR),communications, and biomedical devices. Light with a micron-scalewavelength allows for 0.001° angular resolution, when used for imaging,and antenna gain of more than 100 dB from a modest 10 cm×10 cm aperture,when used for communication. Such light has a frequency in the hundredsof terahertz range and wide operating bandwidths, allowing forhigh-speed data-transmission and three-dimensional imaging withsub-millimeter range resolution. In addition, optical beams at thiswavelength have wide windows of low atmospheric absorption, allowing forlong-range propagation over terahertz of optical bandwidth.

SUMMARY

An example of an optical device includes: a first waveguide having afirst propagation constant; a second waveguide parallel to the firstwaveguide and having a second propagation constant that is differentfrom the first propagation constant; a first grating antenna having afirst grating period; and a second grating antenna having a secondgrating period different from the first grating period. The firstgrating antenna is configured to emit first light from the firstwaveguide, and the second grating antenna is configured to emit secondlight from the second waveguide. The first grating period and the secondgrating period are configured to emit the first light and the secondlight at a same emission angle.

Implementations of such an optical device may include one or more of thefollowing features. The first propagation constant of the firstwaveguide may be a first function of a position along a length of thefirst waveguide. The second propagation constant of the second waveguideis a second function of a position along a length of the secondwaveguide. A value of the first propagation constant at most pointsalong the length of the first waveguide may be different from a value ofthe second propagation constant at a corresponding point along thelength of the second waveguide. The first grating period may beconfigured to emit the first light a first emission angle that is afunction of the position along the length of the first waveguide. Thesecond grating period is configured to emit the second light at a secondemission angle that is a function of the position along the length ofthe second waveguide. A value of the first emission angle at every pointalong the length of the first waveguide may be equal to a value of thesecond emission angle at a corresponding point along the length of thesecond waveguide.

Implementations of such an optical device may further include one ormore of the following features. The optical device may include aplurality of waveguides including the first waveguide and the secondwaveguide and at least one additional waveguide. Each waveguide of theplurality of waveguides may have a propagation constant that isdifferent from a respective propagation constant of an adjacentwaveguide. the first propagation constant of the first waveguide is afirst vector ({right arrow over (β)}₁), the second propagation constantof the second waveguide is a vector ({right arrow over (β)}₂), a firstwavenumber vector of the first grating antenna ({right arrow over(K)}₁), and a second wavenumber vector of the second grating antenna({right arrow over (K)}₂) satisfy the following equation: {right arrowover (β)}₁+{right arrow over (K)}₁={right arrow over (β)}₂+{right arrowover (K)}₂. The first grating antenna may be etched into a core of thefirst waveguide. The second grating antenna may be etched into a core ofthe second waveguide. The first grating antenna may be above or below acore of the first waveguide. The second grating antenna may be above orbelow a core of the second waveguide. The first grating antenna may beadjacent to a core of the first waveguide at a same depth as the core ofthe first waveguide. The second grating antenna may be adjacent to acore of the second waveguide at a same depth as the core of the secondwaveguide.

Implementations of such an optical device may further include one ormore of the following features. A width of a waveguide core of the firstwaveguide may be different from a width of a waveguide core of thesecond waveguide. A height of a waveguide core of the first waveguidemay be different from a height of a waveguide core of the secondwaveguide. A material that forms a waveguide core of the first waveguidemay have a different index of refraction from a material that forms awaveguide core of the second waveguide. A waveguide core of the firstwaveguide may be a distance from a waveguide core of the secondwaveguide, the distance being less than a single wavelength of the firstlight which the first waveguide is configured to guide. The opticaldevice may include an antenna layer that includes the first waveguide,the second waveguide, the first grating antenna, and the second gratingantenna. The optical device may include a phase shifter layer thatincludes a third waveguide, a fourth waveguide, a first phase shifterconfigured to apply a phase shift to the third waveguide, and a secondphase shifter configured to apply a phase shift to the fourth waveguide.The third waveguide may be optically coupled to the first waveguide andthe fourth waveguide may be optically coupled to the second waveguide.The third waveguide may have a third propagation constant, and thefourth waveguide may have a fourth propagation constant that isdifferent from the third propagation constant. The optical device mayinclude a splitting distribution network coupled to the first waveguideand the second waveguide. The optical device may further include: afirst plurality of waveguides including the first waveguide, eachwaveguide of the first plurality of waveguides having the firstpropagation constant; and a second plurality of waveguides including thesecond waveguide, each waveguide of the second plurality of waveguideshaving the second propagation constant. The first plurality ofwaveguides and the second plurality of waveguides may be arranged in analternating pattern such that each of the first plurality of waveguidesis adjacent to at least one of the second plurality of waveguides.

An example of an optical device includes: a first optical path thatincludes a first waveguide having a first propagation constant; a secondoptical path that includes a second waveguide parallel to the firstwaveguide and having a second propagation constant that is differentfrom the first propagation constant; a first antenna configured to emitfirst light from the first optical path; and a second antenna configuredto emit second light from the second optical path. The first waveguideincludes a first phase shifter configured to apply a phase shift alongthe first waveguide. The second waveguide includes a second phaseshifter configured to apply a phase shift along the second waveguide.

Implementations of such an optical device may include one or more of thefollowing features. The first optical path may include a third waveguidelocated at a different depth level than the first waveguide. The firstantenna may be configured to emit first light from the third waveguide.The second optical path may include a fourth waveguide located at adifferent depth level than the fourth waveguide. The second antenna maybe configured to emit second light from the fourth waveguide. A totaloptical path length of the first waveguide may be equal to a totaloptical path length of the second waveguide. The first propagationconstant of the first waveguide may change smoothly over the majority ofa total length of the first waveguide. The second propagation constantof the second waveguide may change smoothly over the majority of a totallength of the second waveguide. The first waveguide may include a firstplurality of sections, the first propagation constant for each sectionof the first plurality of sections being uniform, and each section ofthe first plurality of sections being connected to an adjacent sectionof the first plurality of sections by a taper. The second waveguide mayinclude a second plurality of sections, the second propagation constantfor each section of the second plurality of sections being uniform, andeach section of the second plurality of sections being connected to anadjacent section of the second plurality of sections by a taper.

Implementations of such an optical device may further include one ormore of the following features. A width of a waveguide core of the firstwaveguide may be different from a width of a waveguide core of thesecond waveguide. A height of a waveguide core of the first waveguidemay be different from a height of a waveguide core of the secondwaveguide. A material that forms a waveguide core of the first waveguidemay have a different index of refraction from a material that forms awaveguide core of the second waveguide. The first antenna and the secondantenna may be selected from a group consisting of a plasmonic antenna,a waveguide-termination antenna, and a resonant antenna.

An example integrated optical device includes: a waveguide claddingvolume; a waveguide layer within the waveguide cladding volume, thewaveguide layer including at least one waveguide core that is elongatedin a longitudinal direction, and the at least one waveguide core and thewaveguide cladding volume forming a waveguide; and a perturbation layerwithin the waveguide cladding volume. The perturbation layer includes: afirst emitter layer that includes a first plurality of emittersdisplaced from the at least one waveguide core in a first directionperpendicular to the longitudinal direction; and a second emitter layerthat includes a second plurality of emitters, the second emitter layerbeing farther from the waveguide core in the first direction than thefirst emitter layer.

Implementations of such an integrated optical device may include one ormore of the following features. The perturbation layer may be separatedfrom the waveguide layer by a first separation distance that is greaterthan zero. The first separation distance may be less than a singlewavelength of the first light which the first waveguide is configured toguide. The first emitter layer may be separated from the second emitterlayer by a second separation distance that is greater than zero. Thesecond plurality of emitters may be offset by an offset distance in thelongitudinal direction relative to the first plurality of emitters. Theoffset distance and the separation distance may be configured to emitlight from the waveguide in a single direction. The offset distance maybe approximately ±λ_(eff)/4+m λ_(eff)/2, wherein λ_(eff) is an effectivewavelength of light guided by the waveguide and m is an integer. Thesecond separation distance is approximately λ_(c)/4+nλ_(c)/2, wherein nis an integer and λ_(c) is an effective wavelength of light in thecladding volume.

Implementations of such an integrated optical device may further includeone or more of the following features. Each of the first plurality ofemitters may have a first length in the longitudinal direction, and eachof the second plurality of emitters may have a second length in thelongitudinal direction. The second length may be different from thesecond length. A first thickness of the first plurality of emitters maybe less than a second thickness of the second plurality of emitters. Thefirst thickness and the second thickness may be in the depth direction.The first plurality of emitters may be formed from a first material andthe second plurality of emitters may be formed from a second materialthat is different from the first material. A dielectric constant of thesecond material may be greater than a dielectric constant of the firstmaterial.

An example optical phase shifter includes: a waveguide core comprising atop surface and a bottom surface; and a semiconductor contact that islaterally displaced relative to the waveguide core and is electricallyconnected to the waveguide core. A top surface of the semiconductorcontact is above the top surface of the waveguide core or a bottomsurface of the semiconductor contact is below the bottom surface of thewaveguide core.

Implementations of such an optical phase shifter may include one or moreof the following features. The semiconductor contact may be a firstsemiconductor contact that is an n-type semiconductor contact. Theoptical phase shifter may include a second semiconductor contact that isn-type semiconductor contact that is laterally displaced relative to thewaveguide core and is electrically connected to the waveguide core. Atop surface of the second semiconductor contact may be above the topsurface of the waveguide core or a bottom surface of the secondsemiconductor contact may be below the bottom surface of the waveguidecore. A width of the semiconductor contact may be less than a width ofthe waveguide core. A first concentration of a dopant of thesemiconductor contact at the top surface of the semiconductor contactmay be greater than a second concentration of the dopant of thesemiconductor contact at the bottom surface of the semiconductorcontact. A doping profile of the semiconductor contact may smoothlytransition from the first concentration of the dopant of thesemiconductor contact at the top surface of the semiconductor contact tothe second concentration of the dopant of the semiconductor contact atthe bottom surface of the semiconductor contact.

Implementations of such an optical phase shifter may further include oneor more of the following features. The semiconductor contact may includeepitaxially grown semiconductor, deposited semiconductor, or etchedsemiconductor. The semiconductor contact may include silicon or silicongermanium. The waveguide core may include the same material as thesemiconductor contact. The waveguide core may be a first waveguide corehaving a first propagation constant. The optical phase shifter mayinclude a second waveguide core having a second propagation constantthat is different from the first propagation constant. The secondwaveguide core may be adjacent to the first waveguide core. Thesemiconductor contact may be electrically connected to the secondwaveguide core.

An example integrated optical phase shifter includes: a waveguide corecomprising a p-type core region and an n-type core region; a p-typesemiconductor region in physical contact with the n-type core region ofthe waveguide core; an n-type semiconductor region in physical contactwith the p-type core region of the waveguide core; a first electricalcontact in contact with the p-type semiconductor region; and a secondelectrical contact in contact with the n-type semiconductor region.

Implementations of such an integrated optical phase shifter may includeone or more of the following features. A level of a top surface of thewaveguide core may be above a level of a top surface of the p-typesemiconductor region and may be above a level of a top surface of then-type semiconductor region. The n-type semiconductor region may be inphysical contact with the n-type core region. The p-type semiconductorregion may be in physical contact with the p-type core region.

An example integrated optical device includes: a plurality of waveguidecores disposed in an array oriented perpendicular to a longitudinaldirection, each waveguide core of the plurality of waveguide cores beingelongated in the longitudinal direction; a plurality of diode signalcontacts disposed in a first signal contact array oriented in atransverse direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinaldirection, a respective waveguide core of the plurality of waveguidecores separating each signal contact of the plurality of signalcontacts; a plurality of diode ground contacts disposed in a firstground contact array oriented in the transverse direction, a respectivewaveguide core of the plurality of waveguide cores separating eachground contact of the plurality of ground contacts; and a plurality ofdiodes disposed in an array perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.Each diode of the plurality of diodes includes: a first diode groundcontact of the plurality of diode ground contacts; and a first diodesignal contact of the plurality of signal contacts.

Implementations of such an integrated optical device may include one ormore of the following features. The first diode ground contact may be ata first position in the transverse direction, and the first diode signalcontract may be at a second position in the transverse directionadjacent to the first position. The integrated optical device mayinclude: a plurality of signal contact arrays comprising the firstsignal contact array; and a plurality of ground contact arrayscomprising the second signal contact array. Each signal contact array ofthe plurality of signal contact arrays may be configured to beindependently controlled. Each diode signal contact of the plurality ofdiode signal contacts may be electrically isolated from the other diodesignal contacts of the plurality of diode signal contacts. A length ofeach diode signal contact of the plurality of diode signal contacts inthe longitudinal direction may be different from a length of each diodeground contact of the plurality of diode ground contacts in thelongitudinal direction. The plurality of diode signal contacts and theplurality of diode ground contacts may be epitaxially grown.

An example integrated optical device includes: a phase shifter layerthat includes an array of phase shifter regions, each phase shifterregion including a first plurality of waveguides and at least one phaseshifter for at least a portion of the first plurality of waveguides.Each phase shifter region of the array of phase shifter regions islocated at a respective position within the array of phase shifterregions. The integrated optical device also includes an antenna layerabove or below the phase shifter layer, the antenna layer including anarray of light-emitting regions, each light-emitting region including asecond plurality of waveguides. Each light-emitting region of the arrayof light-emitting regions is located at a respective position within thearray of light-emitting regions. Each light-emitting region of the arrayof light-emitting regions is configured to emit light received from aphase shifter region located at a position adjacent to a position of thelight-emitting region.

Implementations of such an integrated optical device may include one ormore of the following features. Each waveguide of the first plurality ofwaveguides of a phase shifter region at a first position within thearray of phase shifter regions may be coupled to a respective waveguideof the second plurality of waveguides of a light-emitting region at asecond position within the array of light-emitting regions via anoptical layer transition. The second position is adjacent to the firstposition. The optical layer transition is selected from through groupconsisting of an inverse taper element, a grating-to-grating coupler,and a periscope. The integrated optical device may include a transitionlayer between the phase shifter layer and the emitting layer. Thetransition layer may include an array of transition regions, eachtransition region including a third plurality of waveguides. Eachtransition region of the array of transition regions may be located at arespective position within the array of transition regions, and eachlight-emitting region of the array of light-emitting regions may beconfigured to couple light received from a respective phase shifterregion to a respective light-emitting region. The integrated opticaldevice may include a plurality of splitting distribution networks, eachsplitting distribution network being configured to couple light to arespective phase shifter region. The plurality of splitting distributionnetworks may be at a same level as the phase shifter layer or at a levelfarther from the antenna layer than the phase shifter layer. Eachwaveguide of the second plurality of waveguides of a firstlight-emitting region may be above or below a respective waveguide ofthe first plurality of waveguides of a first phase shifter region array.Each waveguide of the first plurality of waveguides of the first phaseshifter region may have a different propagation constant than therespective waveguide of the second plurality of waveguides of the firstlight-emitting region that is above or below each waveguide of the firstplurality of waveguides.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects and embodiments will be described with reference to thefollowing figures. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Forpurposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in everydrawing.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an optical device.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a cross-section view of a portion of theoptical device of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C is a perspective view of a portion of the optical device of FIG.1A.

FIG. 1D is a top view of a portion of the optical device of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1E is a perspective view of a waveguide splitter used in theoptical device of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1F is a perspective view of an optical escalator used in theoptical device of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a cross-sectional view of a portion of anoptical device with a distribution network at the same level as a phaseshifter layer.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of a cross-sectional view of a portion of anoptical device with a distribution network at a level below a level of aphase shifter layer.

FIG. 2C is a block diagram of a cross-sectional view of a portion of anoptical device with a distribution network at a level below a level of aphase shifter layer and multiple transition layers between the phaseshifter layer and a light-emitting layer.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cross-section of the optical device ofFIG. 1A.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of the optical device of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 5A is a top view of a waveguide array with alternating widths.

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of a waveguide array with alternatingwidths.

FIG. 6A is a top view of a waveguide array with alternating heights.

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of a waveguide array with alternatingheights.

FIG. 7A is a top view of a waveguide array with alternating materials.

FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of a waveguide array with alternatingmaterials.

FIG. 8A is a top view of a waveguide array with alternating widths.

FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of a waveguide array with alternatingwidths.

FIG. 9A is a top view of a waveguide array with widths that changediscontinuously along the length of the waveguides.

FIG. 9B is a first cross-sectional view of a waveguide array with widthsthat change discontinuously along the length of the waveguides.

FIG. 9C is a second cross-sectional view of a waveguide array withwidths that change discontinuously along the length of the waveguides.

FIG. 10A is a top view of a waveguide array with widths that changesmoothly along the length of the waveguides.

FIG. 10B is a first cross-sectional view of a waveguide array withwidths that change smoothly along the length of the waveguides.

FIG. 10C is a second cross-sectional view of a waveguide array withwidths that change smoothly along the length of the waveguides.

FIG. 11 is a top view of a waveguide array with waveguide cores ofalternating widths and grating antennas with different grating periods.

FIG. 12 is a side view of a waveguide and a separate perturbation layerthat includes a grating antenna.

FIG. 13 is a side view of a waveguide and a separate perturbation layerthat includes a grating antenna separated by a non-zero distance from awaveguide core.

FIG. 14 is a side view of a waveguide and a separate perturbation layerthat includes multiple emitter layers, each emitter layer including agrating antenna separated by a non-zero distance from a waveguide core.

FIG. 15 is a top view of non-scalable phase shifter array, according tothe prior art.

FIG. 16 is a top view of scalable phase shifter array.

FIG. 17 is a cross-section view of a portion of a scalable phase shifterwith metal contacts approaching the phase shifter from the bottom.

FIG. 18 is a cross-section view of a portion of a scalable phase shifterwith metal contacts in contact with a raised semiconductor contact.

FIG. 19A is top view of a portion of a scalable phase shifter with awaveguide core with an n-type core region and a p-type core region.

FIG. 19B is cross-sectional view of a portion of the scalable phaseshifter of FIG. 19A.

FIG. 20 is a top view of an array of phase shifters.

FIG. 21 is a top view of an array of phase shifters.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventors have recognized and appreciated a need for optical devicesfor emitting optical radiation (referred to simply as “light” herein)that are compact and can emit coherent optical radiation with controlover the angle of emission of the emitted optical radiation.Applications of such a device include LIDAR, communications andbiomedical imaging, but applications are not limited to these fields.For example, implementations of one such optical device may be used toperform frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) LIDAR. The opticaldevice may receive a multimode return signal. The optical device mayalso be used as a high-speed free-space optical communication link. Theoptical device may produce a single phased beam across a wide aperture(e.g., 100 cm²) and/or numerous independent beams. Some implementationsof the optical device may be integrated into a mobile communicationsystem. Alternatively, the optical device may be integrated into avehicle, such as an automobile, an aircraft or a ship.

Techniques are discussed herein for emitting light from an opticaldevice that includes multiple waveguides, antennas and/or phase shiftersconfigured to shift the phase of light guided by at least a subset ofthe waveguides. Such an optical device may be an optical phased array,but other optical devices may also benefit from the techniques describedherein.

The inventors have recognized that there is a need for a light emittingoptical device that is allows unidirectional emission of light in acontrollable direction and is robust to variations that commonly occurduring fabrication, such as proximity and rounding effects that canalter the physical geometry of a device in an unpredictable way whencompared to a desired geometry. For example, some implementations of anoptical device may include antennas that are distinct from thewaveguides. The antennas may include multiple emitter elements that may,for example, be separated from the waveguides by a gap. By separatingthe guiding and emitting function of a perturbation layer of the opticaldevice the emitter elements can cause light guided by the waveguides tobe emitted without using emitter elements formed directly in thewaveguide using partial or full etching. Instead, the emitter elementscan be formed in a separate perturbation layer using full etching. Byreducing the use of directly etching the waveguide in forming theoptical device, the rounding and proximity effects are restricted toregions that are far from the optical mode of the light guided by thewaveguides.

The inventors have also recognized and appreciated that using a singlelayer of emitter elements (a “single emitting layer”) that is separatefrom the layer of waveguides (“the waveguide layer”), up to 50% of theoptical power may be lost due to light emission occurring in both anupward and downward direction. By including multiple emitting layers,the amount of optical power emitted in the desired direction can beincreased to greater than 90 %, and in some cases higher than 99%.

The inventors have further recognized that a light emitting opticaldevice that is compact may need to overcome several obstacles that havenot been addressed by conventional optical devices. For example, makinga compact optical device may include using a phase shifters that arescalable to large arrays. For phase shifters to be considered scalable,the phase shifters should have approximately the same pitch as theemitter elements used to cause the light to be emitted from the opticaldevice. Optical devices that include phase shifters that haveapproximately the same pitch as the emitter elements of the opticaldevice may have large fill factors, where the fill factor is defined asthe ratio of the light emitting/receiving area of the optical device tothe total area of the optical device. As a result of including phaseshifters that have approximately the same pitch as the emitter elements,the fill factor is less dependent on the number of antennas included ascompared to optical devices that include phase shifters that have alarger pitch than the emitter elements.

The inventors have also recognized that the fill factor of an opticaldevice can be further increased by forming the optical device using a“unit cell” approach where particular regions of the device are repeatedin an array and stacked together in a “Tetris-style” building blockapproach. The optical device, for example, can include, on a top layer,multiple light-emitting regions in an antenna layer that are formedabove multiple phase shifter regions in a phase shifter layer that isbelow the antenna layer. Each light-emitting region emits light from aphase shifter region from which light is received. A particularlight-emitting region does not emit light from the phase shifter regionimmediately below the light-emitting region. Instead, a particularlight-emitting region emits light from a phase shifter region that is ina different position in the array of regions such that the majority ofthe top layer of the optical device includes light-emitting regions.Thus, the surface area of the optical device is not wasted with regionsthat do not emit light. Instead, the phase shifter regions, which do notemit light, may be located beneath the antenna regions.

The inventors have further recognized that a light emitting opticaldevice that is compact may include multiple waveguides in closeproximity. When waveguides of an optical device are sufficiently close,there is cross-talk between waveguides where light from a firstwaveguide evanescently couples to a second waveguide and vice versa.Such cross-talk can make it difficult to control the light emitted froman optical device. The inventors have recognized and appreciated that byusing waveguides that are phase mismatched, the crosstalk betweenwaveguides can be reduced. Waveguides can be phase mismatched byensuring that adjacent waveguides have different propagation constantsfor the wavelength of light that the waveguides are designed to guide.The inventors have also recognized and appreciated that emitter elementsused to form an antenna for each waveguide can be formed in a way thatcompensates for the phase mismatch in the waveguides and results inemitted light that is coherent and emits in a single direction. Forexample, if the optical device include a grating antenna, the gratingperiod of the grating antenna for a first waveguide with a firstpropagation constant can be selected to be different from the gratingperiod of a second waveguide with a second propagation constant suchthat the overall angle of the emitted light is the same, whilemaintaining a phase mismatch for the light within the two waveguides.Techniques described herein for phase mismatching waveguides can be usedfor any adjacent waveguides of the optical device. For example, adjacentwaveguides in a waveguide layer of an antenna layer of the opticaldevice may be phase mismatched. Alternatively or additionally, adjacentwaveguides in a phase shifter layer of the optical device may be phasemismatched. Alternatively or additionally, a waveguide in the antennalayer may be phase mismatched with a waveguide from the phase shifterlayer of the optical device.

Overview of an Optical Device According to Some Embodiments

Referring to FIG. 1A, an optical device 1 may include an array ofreticle fields 2, a plurality of electrodes 4 and a heat sink 6. Theoptical device 1 emits light from a top surface of each reticle field 2based on electronic control signals received via the electrodes 4. Theelectrodes 4 also provide power and ground contacts for the componentsof the optical device 1. The heat sink 6 is located on the bottom of theoptical device 1, on the opposite side of the optical device 1 from thelight emitting top surface. The optical device 1 may, by way of exampleand not limitation, be an electronic-photonic 300 mm platform with3Dintegrated complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) electronicsfor controlling phased array elements and other functions of the opticaldevice 1. Additionally, the optical device 1 may use a “Unit-Cell”approach with “Tetris-Style” building blocks to achieve a highfill-factor (e.g., approaching 100%).

Each reticle field of the optical device 1 includes four macro-cells,each macro-cell including 16 unit cells (e.g., a 4×4 array that includesa unit cell 8 of FIG. 1). The unit cell 8 represents the lowest level ofthe modular approach for the optical device 1. Referring to FIG. 1B,each unit cell 10 may, for example, include a phase shifter region 12 ina phase shifter layer 18 and a light-emitting region 13 in an antennalayer 20, each region including multiple waveguides (not shown for thesake of clarity). Each phase shifter region 12 may include, by way ofexample and not limitation, 4096 phase shifters configured to shift thephase of light guided by the waveguides within the phase shifter region.Each light-emitting region 13 may include, 4096 grating antennasconfigured to perturb the light guided by the waveguides within thelight-emitting region 13 and cause the light to be emitted from the topsurface of the optical device 1. The phase shifters of the phase shifterregion 12 are controlled by signals from the electrodes 4. For example,the phase shifters can be controlled to steer the light emitted from thetop surface of the optical device 1.

Referring to FIG. 1C and FIG. 1D, each unit cell 10 may further includea light source 14 and a splitting distribution network 15 for providinglight from the light source 14 to each of the waveguides of the phaseshifter region 12. The light source 14 may be a semiconductor laser thatemits coherent light of a particular wavelength. Moreover, the lightsource 14 may be phase-locked with the light sources of other unit cellssuch that the light emitted from multiple light sources of the opticaldevice 1 are coherent with one another. Additionally, the wavelength ofthe light source 14 may be tunable and may be adjusted using signalsreceived via the electrodes 4. For example, the light emitted from thetop surface of the optical device 1 can be steered by adjusting thewavelength of the light emitted by the light source 14. The light source14 may be tuned, for example, by using a thermally-tuned externalcavity. While the light source 14 is illustrated as part of the opticaldevice 1, an external light source may be used and the light from theexternal light source may be coupled to the optical device usingtechniques known in the art. For example, an external light source mayinclude a fiber that is butt-coupled to an initial waveguide of thesplitting distribution network 15.

The splitting distribution network 15 may be, for example, a binary treenetwork or a star coupler that is optically connected to the lightsource 14 and each waveguide of the phase shifter region 12. A binarytree network may include a cascade of 1×2 couplers formed by splittingan initial waveguide that is connected to the light source 14 into twowaveguide, each of those two waveguides splitting into two morewaveguides, and so on until 2^(n) waveguides are formed, where n is thenumber of levels of the tree. Referring to FIG. 1E, a 1×2 coupler 3 of abinary tree network splits light from a single waveguide 5 into twoseparate waveguides 7 and 9. By splitting light from a coherent lightsource 14, the splitting distribution network 15 delivers light to eachof the waveguides of the phase shifter region 12 that is coherent withthe light received by every other waveguide of the phase shifter region12. The splitting distribution network 15 may be located at the samelevel as the phase shifter region 12 or at a level below the phaseshifter region 12.

The “Tetris-style” approach to an example optical device is illustratedby the unit cell 10, which includes the phase shifter region 12 and thelight-emitting region 13 offset from one another in a longitudinaldirection defined by the orientation of the waveguides with in the phaseshifter region 12 and the light-emitting region 13. The differentregions are disposed at different layers within the optical device 1. Aphase shifter layer 18 of the optical device 1 includes an array ofphase shifter regions (e.g., phase shifter region 12), each phaseshifter region comprising a first plurality of waveguides and at leastone phase shifter for at least a portion of the first plurality ofwaveguides. Each phase shifter region of the array of phase shifterregions is located at a respective position within the array of phaseshifter regions. An antenna layer 20 of the optical device 1 is above orbelow the phase shifter layer 18. The antenna layer 20 includes an arrayof light-emitting regions (e.g., light-emitting region 13), eachlight-emitting region including a second plurality of waveguides. Eachlight-emitting region of the array of light-emitting regions is locatedat a respective position within the array of light-emitting regions.Additionally, each light-emitting region of the array of light-emittingregions is configured to emit light received from a phase shifter regionlocated at a position adjacent to a position of the light-emittingregion. For example, phase shifter region 12 is located at a position inthe array that is one position to the left of the light-emitting region13. In other words, the center of the phase shifter region 12 is to theleft of the center of the light-emitting region 13. It should beunderstood, that the directional terms left and right are being used inreference to FIG. 1 and do not limit the directionality of embodimentsof the optical device 1.

Referring to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C, other arrangements of phaseshifter regions and light-emitting regions are possible. For example, inFIG. 2A, an antenna layer 21 is located above a phase shifter layer 23.The antenna layer 21 includes three light-emitting regions 22 a-c andthe phase-shifter layer 23 includes three phase shifter regions 24 a-c,though the number of regions in each layer is not limited to three.Multiple splitting distribution network regions 26 a-c are located atthe same depth level as the phase shifter layer 23. A unit cell 25includes a splitting distribution region 26 b, a phase shifter region 24b, and a light-emitting region 22 b. The light-emitting region 22 b isabove the phase shifter region 24 c of a different unit cell because thewaveguides of the light-emitting region 22 b receives light from thephase shifter region 24 b, which is located at an adjacent position.

Referring to FIG. 2B, an antenna layer 27 is located above a phaseshifter layer 29. The antenna layer 27 includes three light-emittingregions 28 a-c and the phase-shifter layer 29 includes three phaseshifter regions 30 a-c, though the number of regions in each layer isnot limited to three. Multiple splitting distribution network regions 32a-c are disposed in a splitting network layer 31 that is located at adepth level that is lower than the depth level of the phase shifterlayer 23. Consequently, the phase shifter layer 29 is located at a depthlevel that is between the antenna layer 27 and the splitting networklayer 31. A unit cell 33 includes a splitting distribution region 32 b,a phase shifter region 30 b, and a light-emitting region 28 b. Thelight-emitting region 28 b is above the phase shifter region 30 c of adifferent unit cell because the waveguides of the light-emitting region28 b receives light from the phase shifter region 30 b, which is locatedat an adjacent position.

Referring to FIG. 2C, an antenna layer 35 is located above a phaseshifter layer 37. The antenna layer 35 includes three light-emittingregions 36 a-c and the phase-shifter layer 29 includes three phaseshifter regions 38 a-c, though the number of regions in each layer isnot limited to three. Multiple splitting distribution network regions 40a-c are disposed in a splitting network layer 39 that is located at adepth level that is lower than the depth level of the phase shifterlayer 37. There are also two transition layers, a first transition layer41 and a second transition layer 43. The transition layer 41 includestransition regions 42 a-c, which each include a plurality of waveguides.The transition layer 43 also includes multiple transition regions 44a-c, which each include a plurality of waveguides. The transitionregions provide optical isolation between the phase shifter layer 37 andthe antenna 35 by vertically separating these layers in the depthdirection such that waveguides in the phase shifter layer 37 do notdirectly optically couple with waveguides in the antenna layer 35. Thisprevents cross-talk between the layers. The waveguides in the firsttransition layer 41 receive light from waveguides in the phase shifterlayer 37; the waveguides in the second transition layer 43 receive lightfrom waveguides in the first transition layer 41; the waveguides of theantenna layer 35 receive light from the waveguides of the secondtransition layer 43. Consequently, the phase shifter layer 37 is locatedat a depth level that is between the antenna layer 35 and the splittingnetwork layer 39, but the phase shifter layer 37 is separated from theantenna layer 35 by multiple transition layers. While two transitionlayers are illustrated in FIG. 2C, a single transition layer may be usedor more than two transition layers may be used. A unit cell 45 includesa splitting distribution region 40 b, a phase shifter region 38 b, afirst transition region 42 b, a second transition region 44 b, and alight-emitting region 36 b. The light-emitting region 36 b is above thephase shifter region 338 c of a different unit cell because thewaveguides of the light-emitting region 36 b receives light, via thetransition regions 42 b and 44 b, from the phase shifter region 38 b,which is located at an adjacent position.

An optical layer transition is used to optically couple a waveguide froma first layer to a waveguide located in a second layer that is above orbelow the first layer. Non-limiting examples of optical layertransitions include an inverse taper element, a grating-to-gratingcoupler, or a periscope. The periscope includes an arrangement of atleast two reflective surfaces that guide light from the waveguide of thefirst layer to the waveguide of the second layer using reflection. Anexample of an inverse taper element is an “optical escalator.” Referringto FIG. 1F, an optical escalator 16 includes a first waveguide 17 at afirst depth level and a second waveguide 18 at a second depth level. Thefirst waveguide 17 is tapered such that the width of the first waveguide17 decreases from a first width to a termination width at which thefirst waveguide 17 terminates. The second waveguide 18 is tapered in theopposite direction of the first waveguide 17 such that the width of thesecond waveguide 18 begins with an initial width and grows into awaveguide with a second width. The first waveguide 17 and the secondwaveguide 18 overlap vertically (in a depth direction) such that thesecond waveguide 18 is above the first waveguide 17, or vice versa, foran overlap length, L_(o). The first waveguide 17 and the secondwaveguide 18 are parallel in at least a region where the two waveguidesoverlap. Light that is guided by the first waveguide 17 from the left tothe right will adiabatically couple to the second waveguide 18 such thatlight that was originally guided at the first depth level will be raisedto the second depth level, thus completing a transition between layersof the optical device.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, with further reference to FIGS. 1A-F,the optical device 1 is an integrated device that includes multiplelayers, including a perturbation layer 52, a waveguide layer 54, a phaseshifter layer 56, a semiconductor contact layer 58, and a metal contactlayer 60. Each of the multiple layers may be formed using etchingtechniques, epitaxial growth techniques, deposition techniques and/ordoping techniques. The perturbation layer 52 and the waveguide layer 54may be collectively referred to as an antenna layer 64. The opticaldevice 1 also includes a cladding volume 62 that acts as the claddingfor the waveguides within the optical device 1. While FIGS. 3-4illustrate grating antennas configured to emit light guided by thewaveguide, other types of antennas may also be used in some embodiments.For example, plasmonic antennas, waveguide-termination antennas orresonant antennas may be used to emit light from waveguides of theoptical device 1.

While the components of FIGS. 3-4 are illustrated as being formed ofspecific material, other materials may be used. The perturbation layer52 is illustrated as being formed from poly-silicon. In otherembodiments, however, the perturbation layer 52 may be formed from, byway of example and not limitation, intrinsic silicon, doped silicon,silicon nitride, liquid crystals, aluminum nitride, indium titaniumoxide, a metal, or germanium. The waveguide layer 54 is illustrated asbeing formed from poly-silicon. In other embodiments however, thewaveguide layer 54 may be formed from, by way of example and notlimitation, intrinsic silicon, doped silicon, or silicon nitride. Thephase shifter layer 56 is illustrated as being formed from silicon. Inother embodiments, however, the phase shifter layer 56 may be formedfrom, by way of example and not limitation, a doped silicon,silicon-germanium, germanium, transparent conductive oxides (e.g.indium-tin-oxide, indium-gallium-zinc-oxide, indium-zinc-oxide,gallium-zinc-oxide, etc.), bismuth ferrite, vanadium oxide, graphene andliquid crystals. The semiconductor contact layer 58 is illustrated asbeing formed from poly-silicon. In other embodiments, however, thesemiconductor contact layer 58 may be formed from, by way of example andnot limitation, a d doped silicon, silicon-germanium, germanium,transparent conductive oxides, metal oxides (e.g. cupric-oxide (CuO)).The metal contact layer 60 is illustrated as being formed from copper.In other embodiments, however, the semiconductor contact layer 58 may beformed from, by way of example and not limitation, any conductivematerial such as other metals (gold, silver, titanium, aluminum,tungsten, tin, etc.), or carbon. Furthermore, while FIGS. 3-4 mayillustrate two components as being formed from the same material,embodiments are not so limited. For example, the waveguide layer 54 andthe perturbation layer 52 are both illustrated as being formed frompoly-silicon. In other embodiments, however, the waveguide layer 54 maybe formed from poly-silicon while the perturbation layer 52 is formedwith a dielectric material that has a different index of refraction thansilicon.

The phase shifter layer 56 includes multiple waveguide cores that,together with the cladding volume 62 form waveguides that guide lightthrough the optical device 1. The metal contact layer 60 includesmultiple metal contacts that deliver electrical signals from theelectrodes 4 to multiple semiconductor contacts of the semiconductorcontact layer 58. Each of the waveguides of the phase shifter layer 56includes at least one phase shifter that, based on the receivedelectrical signal, applies a phase shift along the waveguide such thatlight guided by a particular waveguide experiences a phase shift thatdepends on the received electrical signal. Each phase shifter of thephase shifter layer 56 may be independently controlled such that lightguided by each waveguide of the phase shifter layer 56 experiences aphase shift that is individually controlled and may be different fromthe phase shifts experienced by other waveguides. Any type of phaseshifter may be used to induce a phase shift along the waveguides of thephase shifter layer 56, including thermal phase shifters andelectro-optical phase shifters. A particular example of anelectro-optical phase shifter is described in more detail below.

The waveguide layer 54 includes multiple waveguides, which may bereferred to as antenna waveguides to distinguish them from phase thephase shifter waveguides of the phase shifter layer 56. Light from thephase shifter layer 56 is coupled to the antenna waveguides of thewaveguide layer 54 using an optical layer transition, such as theescalator 16. The perturbation layer 52 includes multiple antennas thatcause light guided by the antenna waveguides to be emitted in a verticaldirection, away from the phase shifter layer 56. While not illustratedin FIGS. 3-4, the perturbation layer 52 may include one or more emitterlayers located above the waveguide layer 54. Each emitter layer mayinclude multiple antennas. By way of example, the antennas may be agrating antenna that include multiple individual emitter elements alongthe length of the waveguide. In some embodiments, the antennas may bepart of the waveguide layer 54 itself by partially etching or fullyetching the emitter elements into the waveguide cores of the waveguidelayer 54. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 3-4, the antennas areincluded in the perturbation layer 52, which is separate from thewaveguide layer 54.

Having described an overview of an optical device according to someembodiments, particular details of example optical devices are describedbelow.

Phase Mismatched Waveguides

When two or more waveguide cores are brought sufficiently close to oneanother, light guided by one waveguide may couple to a differentwaveguide. This crosstalk can limit the ability to precisely tuneoptical devices that emit optical radiation for purposes such as LIDAR.To reduce crosstalk from occurring, adjacent waveguides can be phasemismatched from one another. Two waveguides are phase mismatched, forexample, when the propagation constants of the two waveguides aredifferent. The maximum optical power that is transferred between twoneighboring guides is

${P_{c} \propto ( \frac{\kappa}{{\Delta\beta}\;} )^{2}},$

where K is a coupling coefficient between the two waveguides and Δβ isthe different in propagation constants between the two waveguides. Thus,a large Δβ prevents significant coupling of light between the twoguides.

The propagation constant of a waveguide depends on the effective indexof refraction of the waveguide via the following equation:

$\begin{matrix}{{\beta = \frac{2\pi \; n_{eff}}{\lambda}},} & ( {{Eqn}.\mspace{14mu} 1} )\end{matrix}$

where β is the propagation constant, n_(eff) is the effective index ofrefraction, and λ is the wavelength of the light guided by thewaveguide. The effective index of refraction, n_(eff), is dependent on anumber of parameters, including a cross-sectional area and thecross-sectional shape of the waveguide, a material that forms thewaveguide core, and a material that forms the waveguide cladding. Forexample, increasing the width of the waveguide core increases theeffective index of refraction, resulting in an increased propagationconstant. Similarly, increasing the height of the waveguide coreincreases the effective index of refraction, resulting in an increasedpropagation constant. Using a material with a larger intrinsic index ofrefraction (e.g., the index of refraction of the bulk material) alsoincreases the propagation constant.

Based on the waveguide above factors that affect the index ofrefraction, an entire array of waveguides can be phase mismatched byensuring that adjacent waveguides in the array of waveguides are phasemismatched with each other. This may be achieved by forming eachwaveguide in the array with its own unique propagation constant.Alternatively, two, three or more types of waveguides can be used, eachtype having its own propagation constant. The array of waveguides can beformed by alternating the multiple different types of waveguides, e.g.,periodically, to form the array.

Referring to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, a waveguide array 70 includes multiplewaveguide cores 71-74. The dashed line of FIG. 5A illustrates thecross-sectional plane used to form the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5B.The waveguide cladding and other components are not shown, for reasonsof clarity. While only four waveguide cores 71-74 are illustrated, anynumber of waveguide cores may be used, e.g., dozens, hundreds, orthousands of waveguide cores may form an array. The waveguide cores71-72 are a first type of waveguide core with a first cross-sectionalarea and the waveguide cores 73-74 are a second type of waveguide corewith a second cross-sectional area. The waveguide cores 71-72 have afirst width, w₁, and the waveguide cores 73-74 have a second width, w₂.The two types of waveguide cores have the same height, h, and are formedfrom the same material. As discussed above, because the two types ofwaveguide cores have different widths, the propagation constants of thetwo types of waveguides are different resulting in different propagationconstants. Thus, every waveguide of the array 70 is phase mismatchedwith an adjacent waveguide of the array 70.

Referring to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, a waveguide array 80 includes multiplewaveguide cores 81-84. The dashed line of FIG. 6A illustrates thecross-sectional plane used to form the cross-sectional view of FIG. 6B.The waveguide cladding and other components are not shown, for reasonsof clarity. While only four waveguide cores 81-84 are illustrated, anynumber of waveguide cores may be used, e.g., dozens, hundreds, orthousands of waveguide cores may form an array. The waveguide cores81-82 are a first type of waveguide core with a first cross-sectionalarea and the waveguide cores 83-84 are a second type of waveguide corewith a second cross-sectional area. The waveguide cores 81-82 have afirst height, h₁, and the waveguide cores 83-84 have a second width, h₂.The two types of waveguide cores have the same width, w, and are formedfrom the same material. As discussed above, because the two types ofwaveguide cores have different heights, the propagation constants of thetwo types of waveguides are different resulting in different propagationconstants. Thus, every waveguide of the array 80 is phase mismatchedwith an adjacent waveguide of the array 80.

Referring to FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, a waveguide array 90 includes multiplewaveguide cores 91-94. The dashed line of FIG. 7A illustrates thecross-sectional plane used to form the cross-sectional view of FIG. 7B.The waveguide cladding and other components are not shown, for reasonsof clarity. While only four waveguide cores 91-94 are illustrated, anynumber of waveguide cores may be used, e.g., dozens, hundreds, orthousands of waveguide cores may form an array. The waveguide cores91-92 are a first type of waveguide core formed from a first materialand the waveguide cores 93-94 are a second type of waveguide core with asecond material. The waveguide cores 91-92 have the same cross-sectionalareas, height, h, and width, w, as the waveguide cores 93-94. For thepurposes of phase mismatching, different materials means materials withdifferent intrinsic indices of refraction for a particular polarizationand wavelength of light. As discussed above, because the two types ofwaveguide cores are formed from different materials, the propagationconstants of the two types of waveguides are different resulting indifferent propagation constants. Thus, every waveguide of the array 90is phase mismatched with an adjacent waveguide of the array 90.

The above examples of waveguide arrays used two different types ofwaveguides in an alternating pattern to create an array of phasemismatched waveguides. It is possible to create similar arrays of phasemismatched waveguides using more than two types of waveguides. Referringto FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, a waveguide array 100 includes multiplewaveguide cores 101-106 using three different types of waveguides. Thedashed line of FIG. 8A illustrates the cross-sectional plane used toform the cross-sectional view of FIG. 8B. The waveguide cladding andother components are not shown, for reasons of clarity. While only sixwaveguide cores 101-106 are illustrated, any number of waveguide coresmay be used, e.g., dozens, hundreds, or thousands of waveguide cores mayform an array. The waveguide cores 101-102 are a first type of waveguidecore with a first cross-sectional area, the waveguide cores 103-104 area second type of waveguide core with a second cross-sectional area, andthe waveguide cores 105-106 are a third type of waveguide core with athird cross-sectional area. The waveguide cores 101-102 have a firstwidth, w₁, and the waveguide cores 103-104 have a second width, w₂, andthe waveguide cores 105-106 have a third width, w₃. The three types ofwaveguide cores have the same height, h, and are formed from the samematerial. As discussed above, because the three types of waveguide coreshave different widths, the propagation constants of the three types ofwaveguides are different resulting in different propagation constants.Thus, every waveguide of the array 100 is phase mismatched with anadjacent waveguide of the array 100. In this example, and in everyembodiment using three or more alternating types of waveguides, eachwaveguide of the array (except for the waveguides at either end of thearray) is adjacent to two different types of waveguides. For example, inarray 100, waveguide 103 is adjacent to waveguide 101 with the firstwidth and is also adjacent to waveguide 104 with the second width.

While FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B illustrate an alternating array of three typesof waveguides with different widths, the same type of alternating arraycan be formed from waveguides with different heights and/or differentmaterials. Additionally, the above techniques for forming phasemismatched waveguide arrays can be used individually, as described inconnection with FIGS. 5A-7B, or the techniques may be combined to formwaveguides of different propagation constants. For example, a first typeof waveguide with a first propagation constant may have a differentwidth, height and material from a second type of waveguide with a secondpropagation constant. Furthermore, embodiments are not limited to theaforementioned techniques for ensuring that two adjacent waveguides arephase mismatched. Any difference in the waveguides that causes thepropagation constant to be different from a neighboring propagationconstant may be used.

The above mentioned techniques for phase mismatching waveguides, asdescribed in connection with FIGS. 5A-8B, use a propagation constantthat is uniform throughout the entire length of each waveguide of anarray. However, in some embodiments, the propagation constant of eachwaveguide may vary over the length of the waveguide. For example, thepropagation constant of a particular waveguide may have a differentvalue at each position along the length of the waveguide such that thepropagation constant may be represented as a function of the positionalong the length of the waveguide. In some embodiments, the propagationconstant can vary similar to a stepwise function, where the waveguideincludes multiple sections where the propagation constant is uniform forthe length of each section and each section is connected to an adjacentsection using a taper. A taper is a portion of waveguide where thelength changes from a first width to a second width over a distance thatis less than the length of each section. In such an embodiment, thepropagation constant varies over the length of the waveguide in adiscontinuous manner, alternating from a first uniform propagationconstant to a second uniform propagation constant. In anotherembodiment, a propagation constant varies smoothly over a length of awaveguide such that there are no discontinuities in the value of thepropagation constant. The propagation constant may increase or decreaseover the entire length of the waveguide such that the width of aparticular waveguide is always either increasing or decreasingthroughout the length of the waveguide. Alternatively, the propagationconstant may alternate between increasing and decreasing over the lengthof the waveguide.

Referring to FIGS. 9A-C, a waveguide array 110 includes multiplewaveguide cores 111-114. The dashed line A of FIG. 9A illustrates thecross-sectional plane used to form the cross-sectional view of FIG. 9B,and the dashed line B of FIG. 9A illustrates the cross-sectional planeused to form the cross-sectional view of FIG. 9C. The waveguide claddingand other components are not shown, for reasons of clarity. While onlyfour waveguide cores 111-114 are illustrated, any number of waveguidecores may be used, e.g., dozens, hundreds, or thousands of waveguidecores may form an array. The waveguide cores 111-112 are a first type ofwaveguide core with a width that varies periodically and discontinuouslyfrom a first width, w₁, to a second width, w₂. The waveguide cores113-114 are a second type of waveguide core with a width that variesperiodically and discontinuously from the second width, w₂, to the firstwidth, w₁. The waveguide cores 111-114 have a periodically varying widthover the lengths of the waveguides. In a first section of the waveguidesformed from the waveguide cores 111-112, the waveguides have a firstuniform propagation constant that is based on the first width, w₁, ofthe waveguide cores 111-112. In a second section of the waveguidesformed from the waveguide cores 111-112, the waveguides have a seconduniform propagation constant that is based on the second width, w₂, ofthe waveguide cores 111-112. The two sections of the waveguide cores111-112 with uniform, but different, widths (and therefore uniform, butdifferent, propagation constants) are connected via a taper that variesfrom the first width, w₁, to the second width, w₂. Similarly, in a firstsection of the waveguides formed from the waveguide cores 113-114, thewaveguides have the second uniform propagation constant that is based onthe second width, w₂, of the waveguide cores 113-114. In a secondsection of the waveguides formed from the waveguide cores 113-114, thewaveguides have a second uniform propagation constant that is based onthe first width, w₁, of the waveguide cores 113-114. The two sections ofthe waveguide cores 113-114 with uniform, but different, widths (andtherefore uniform, but different, propagation constants) are connectedvia a taper that varies from the second width, w₂ to the first width,w₁. As discussed above, because the two types of waveguide cores havedifferent widths at each location along the waveguides, the propagationconstants of the two types of waveguides are different resulting indifferent propagation constants at each location along the waveguides.Thus, every waveguide of the array 110 is phase mismatched with anadjacent waveguide of the array 110.

Referring to FIGS. 10A-C, a waveguide array 120 includes multiplewaveguide cores 121-124. The dashed line A of FIG. 10A illustrates thecross-sectional plane used to form the cross-sectional view of FIG. 10B,and the dashed line B of FIG. 10A illustrates the cross-sectional planeused to form the cross-sectional view of FIG. 10C. The waveguidecladding and other components are not shown, for reasons of clarity.While only four waveguide cores 121-124 are illustrated, any number ofwaveguide cores may be used, e.g., dozens, hundreds, or thousands ofwaveguide cores may form an array. The waveguide cores 121-122 are afirst type of waveguide core with a width that varies smoothly andcontinuously from a first width, w₁, to a second width, w₂. Thewaveguide cores 123-124 are a second type of waveguide core with a widththat varies smoothly and continuously from the second width, w₂, to thefirst width, w₁. As discussed above, because the two types of waveguidecores have different widths at most locations along the waveguides, thepropagation constants of the two types of waveguides are differentresulting in different propagation constants at most locations along thewaveguides. There is one location where the widths of the two types ofwaveguide cores are equal, but the proportion of the waveguide where thewidths are equal is small relative to the lengths of the waveguides forwhich the waveguides have different widths. Thus, every waveguide of thearray 120 is phase mismatched with an adjacent waveguide of the array120. In some embodiments, the widths of the two types of waveguides maybe different for 75% of the length of the waveguides, 90% of the lengthof the waveguides, 95% of the length of the waveguides or 99% of thelength of the waveguides.

The aforementioned waveguide mismatching techniques may be used in anyarray of waveguides of an optical device. For example, referring back toFIGS. 3-4, the waveguides in the waveguide layer 54 and/or thewaveguides in the phase shifter layer 56 may be phase mismatched.Additionally, the phase mismatching techniques may be applied towaveguides in different layers. For example, a first waveguide in thewaveguide layer 54 may be phase mismatched from a second waveguide inthe phase shifter layer 56 that is adjacent to the first waveguide in adepth direction (e.g., the first waveguide is vertically above thesecond waveguide).

In some embodiments, it may be desirable to have the total optical pathof a first type of waveguide equal to the total optical path of a secondtype of waveguide. This may be desirable, for example, when the phasemismatching techniques are used for phase shifter waveguides. In thistype of embodiment, the overall phase shift imparted on light guided bythe waveguides by the geometry of the two types of waveguides should beequal to ensure the phase shift imparted on the light is controlledprecisely by the phase shifters themselves.

Compensating for Phase Mismatch with the Perturbation Layer

An optical device that emits light from an array of waveguides mayinclude multiple antennas that combine and superpose the light from eachwaveguide of the array of waveguides, enhancing radiation in certaindirections while suppressing radiation in other directions. Usingmultiple antennas in this way creates a radiation pattern that could notbe achieved by a single antenna.

When the aforementioned phase mismatching technique is used to form awaveguide array with adjacent waveguides having different propagationconstants, a problem arises in ensuring that the direction of emissionfrom a one waveguide is the same as the direction of emission fromanother waveguide with a different propagation constant. For example,the direction of emission for a grating antenna depends on thepropagation constant of the waveguide. Thus, a large difference inpropagation constant between neighboring waveguides of the array causesthe emitted light from the optical device to become out of phase. Thisphase mismatch in the emitted light can be compensated by adjusting thegrating period of the grating antenna used for each waveguide.Specifically, if the propagation constant vector of a first waveguide is{right arrow over (β)}₁ and the propagation constant vector of a secondwaveguide is {right arrow over (β)}₂ (both of the propagation constantvectors directed toward the direction of propagation), then thedifference in propagation constant vectors is Δ{right arrow over(β)}={right arrow over (β)}₂−{right arrow over (β)}₁. Further, if agrating antenna for the first waveguide has a first grating wavenumbervector {right arrow over (K)}₁ and a grating antenna for the secondwaveguide has a second grating wavenumber vector {right arrow over(L)}₂, then the difference in grating wavenumber vectros between the twograting antennas is Δ{right arrow over (K)}={right arrow over(K)}₂−{right arrow over (K)}₁. The amplitude of the grating wavenumbervector of a grating antenna is |{right arrow over (K)}|=2π/Λ, where Λ isthe grating period of the grating antenna and the direction of thevector is against the direction of propagation of light in the grating(i.e., in the opposite direction as the propagation constant vector).For the emitted light from the two waveguides to be emitted at the sameangle, the grating period of the grating antennas should be adjustedsuch that Δ{right arrow over (K)}=−Δ{right arrow over (β)}. In otherwords, the following equation should be satisfied:

{right arrow over (β)}₁+{right arrow over (K)}₁={right arrow over(β)}₂+{right arrow over (K)}₂.   (Eqn. 2)

The wavenumber vectors {right arrow over (K)}₂ and {right arrow over(K)}₂ point in the opposite direction as the propagation constantvectors {right arrow over (β)}₁ and {right arrow over (β)}₂. As aresult, if the widths of the waveguide cores are used to control thepropagation constants of two neighboring waveguides, then the wider ofthe two waveguides has the larger propagation constant and, therefore,the grating antenna associated with the wider waveguide should have asmaller grating period.

As mentioned above, the propagation constant of a particular waveguideis dependent on the wavelength of the light guided by the waveguide.Equation 2, above, should be satisfied for first light guided by a firstwaveguide and second light guided by a second waveguide for the gratingantennas associated with the two waveguides to emit light in the samedirection. To emphasize the wavelength dependence of Eqn. 2, it can berewritten in scalar form as:

$\begin{matrix}{{{\frac{2\mspace{14mu} \pi \; {n_{1}(\lambda)}}{\lambda} - \frac{2\pi}{\Lambda_{1}}} = {\frac{2\mspace{14mu} \pi \; {n_{2}(\lambda)}}{\lambda} - \frac{2\pi}{\Lambda_{2}}}},} & ( {{Eqn}.\mspace{14mu} 3} )\end{matrix}$

where n₁(λ) is the wavelength dependent effective index of refraction ofthe first waveguide, n₂(λ) is the wavelength dependent effective indexof refraction of the second waveguide, Λ₁ is the grating period of thefirst grating antenna, and Λ₂ is the grating period of the secondgrating antenna. If λ_(p) is defined as the wavelength at which both thefirst waveguide and the second waveguide are configured to emit thelight perpendicularly, |{right arrow over (K₁)}|=2 π/Λ₁ and |{rightarrow over (K₂)}|=2 π/Λ₂ can be written as 2πn_(1,2)(λ_(p))/λ_(p) (knownas the Bragg condition). Thus, the Eqn. 3 can be further rewritten as:

$\begin{matrix}{{\frac{n_{1}(\lambda)}{\lambda} - \frac{n_{1}( \lambda_{p} )}{\lambda_{p}}} = {\frac{n_{2}(\lambda)}{\lambda} - {\frac{n_{2}( \lambda_{p} )}{\lambda_{p}}.}}} & ( {{Eqn}.\mspace{14mu} 4} )\end{matrix}$

In some embodiments, Eqn. 4 is satisfied for the wavelengths of light(λ) for for which the optical device is operational. The period of eachgrating antenna may be set, for example, so that the emitted light froma first emitter element of a particular grating antenna is in phase withthe light emitted from a second emitter element (adjacent to the firstemitter element in the particular grating antenna along a waveguide) forthe operational wavelength. Further, the emission angle from the firstemitter element may also be equal with the emission angle of the secondemitter element. Additionally, at the operational wavelength, theemission angles from adjacent antennas may be equal.

Grating antennas are formed in a perturbation layer and includesmultiple emitter elements spaced at a periodic interval (i.e., thegrating period). The emitter elements may be made from the same materialas the associated waveguide core or from a different material. Thematerial may be a dielectric, a semiconductor, or a metal. The gratingantennas are configured to emit light from an associated waveguide. Insome embodiments, the perturbation layer may be part of the same layeras the waveguide layer by being partially or fully etched into thewaveguide core itself. Alternatively or additionally, the perturbationlayer may be above or below the waveguide layer. If the perturbationlayer is above the waveguide layer, the perturbation layer may beimmediately above the waveguide layer, with no gap between the waveguidelayer and the perturbation layer. Alternatively, there may be a gapbetween the waveguide layer and the perturbation layer. The perturbationlayer may also include multiple emitter layers, each emitter layerincluding multiple emitter elements spaced at a periodic interval. Thegrating period of each emitter layer may be the same or different.Additionally, the emitter elements of each emitter layer may be offsetfrom each other by some distance.

Referring to FIG. 11, a waveguide array 130 include multiple waveguidecores 131-134 and multiple grating antennas 135-138 associated with arespective waveguide core. The waveguide cores 131-132 have a firstwidth, w₁, and therefore have a first propagation constant. Thewaveguide cores 133-134 have a second width, w₂, and therefore have asecond propagation constant. Therefore, adjacent waveguides havedifferent propagation constants. The grating antennas 135-138 are formedin a perturbation layer that is above the waveguide layer in which thewaveguide cores 131-134 are formed. The grating antennas 135-136 includemultiple emitter elements spaced with a first grating period, Λ₁, andeach emitter element having a first length, first width and first depth.The grating antennas 137-138 include multiple emitter elements spacedwith a second grating period, Λ₂, greater than the first grating period,and each emitter element having a second length, second width and seconddepth.

Separate Perturbation Layer and Waveguide Layer

As mentioned above, the perturbation layer may be at the same depthlevel as the waveguide layer or at a different level. Separating theperturbation layer and the waveguide layer may have a number ofadvantages. For example, embodiments that separate the perturbationlayer and the waveguide layer may allow an optical device to have alarger fill factor as compared to forming the perturbation layer and thewaveguide layer at the same depth level. Separating the layers alsoreduces or eliminates the need to use partial etching in forming theantennas, resulting in more precisely formed, robust antennas.

Referring to FIG. 12, a waveguide core 140 is located in a waveguidelayer that is at a first depth level and a grating antenna 142 islocated in a perturbation layer that is at a second depth leveldifferent from the first depth level. The perturbation layer is abovethe waveguide layer, but the emitter elements of the grating antenna 142are in physical contact with the waveguide core 140. Thus, while theperturbation layer and the waveguide layer are separate and distinctlayers from one another, there is no gap between the two layers (i.e.,the distance between the two layers is zero). The cladding material andother elements are not shown for clarity.

Referring to FIG. 13, a waveguide core 144 is located in a waveguidelayer that is at a first depth level and a grating antenna 146 islocated in a perturbation layer that is at a second depth leveldifferent from the first depth level. The perturbation layer is abovethe waveguide layer and the emitter elements of the grating antenna 146are not in physical contact with the waveguide core 144. Thus, theperturbation layer and the waveguide layer are separated from oneanother by a non-zero gap distance, d. The cladding material and otherelements are not shown for clarity.

An optical device with a grating antenna formed from a single emitterlayer, as illustrated in FIGS. 12-13, may not efficiently emit opticalpower in a single direction, e.g., vertically upward. To increase theoptical power emitted from the grating antenna, the perturbation layermay include two or more emitter layers. The optical power emitted in asingle direction can be greater than 50% and increased to greater than90%, and in some cases greater than 99% by tuning the layer depths, thedistance between emitter layers and the waveguide, and the offsetbetween emitter elements of each emitter layer.

While a mirror could be used to redirect the light emitted downward froma single emitter layer upwards, the spacing of the mirror would need tobe set at a well-defined spacing d=λ/4+λ/2m, where m=0,1,2. . . , withsmall values of m being more desirable due to reduced angular andwavelength dependence. It is challenging to find a distance d that meetsthis condition and fits within the process layer stack sufficiently faraway from a waveguide layer so as not to induce absorption in the guidedmode of the waveguide. Accordingly, it is preferable not to use mirrorsfor this purpose in an optical device. Instead of using a metal layer toreflect the downward light emission upwards, a second emitter layer isincluded in the perturbation layer. For example, to emit lightvertically upward (i.e., the direction of emission is normal to theplane of the optical device), the emitter elements of the second emitterlayer are shifted by π/2 in their temporal phase from the first layerand are additionally separated by a distance λ/4 from the first emitterlayer. This configuration is mathematically similar to a pair of dipoleradiators separated by a distance λ/4 with a π/2 phase advance in thebottom dipole's excitation waveform. The result is that light emitted inthe downward direction from the emitter layers is π out of phase withone another and the light emitted in the upward direction is in phasewith one another thereby increasing the amount of optical power directedin the upward direction. Additionally, the offset and separation of theemitter layers can be adjusted to different values in order to emitlight at angles other than zero degrees, i.e., an emission directionthat is not directly upward.

Referring to FIG. 14, a waveguide core 150 is located in a waveguidelayer that is at a first depth level and a grating antenna 152 islocated in a perturbation layer that is at a second depth leveldifferent from the first depth level. The perturbation layer is abovethe waveguide layer and includes a first emitter layer 154 and a secondemitter layer 156. Each of the emitter layer 154 and 156 includesmultiple emitter elements that form the grating antenna 146. Neitheremitter layer is in in physical contact with the waveguide core 150. Thefirst emitter layer 154 is separated from the waveguide core 150 by agap distance, d_(g). The second emitter layer is separated from thefirst emitter layer by a separation distance, d_(s).

Each emitter element of the first emitter layer 154 have a first lengthin a longitudinal direction along the length of the waveguide core 150and each emitter element of the second emitter layer 156 have a secondlength in the longitudinal direction. The lengths of the emitters ineach emitter layer may be different. For example, as illustrated, theemitter element length of the first emitter layer 154 is greater thanthe emitter element length of the second emitter layer 156. However, theemitter element length of the first emitter layer 154 may also be lessthan or equal to the emitter element length of the second emitter layer156.

The first emitter layer 154 has a first thickness, h₁, in the depthdirection and the second emitter layer 156 has a second thickness, h₂,in the depth direction. The second thickness, h₂, may be greater thanthe first thickness, h₁, to ensure that the second emitter layer 156perturbs the light guided by the waveguide with the same strength as thefirst emitter layer 154. This is due to the intensity of the lightguided by the waveguide decreasing as a function of distance from thewaveguide core 150. Other techniques for ensuring the perturbation ofthe two emitter layers are approximately equal may also be used. Forexample, instead of forming the first emitter layer 154 and the secondlayer 156 from the same material, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the emitterelements of the first emitter layer 154 may be formed from a differentmaterial than the emitter elements of the second emitter layer 156. Forexample, if the emitter elements of the second emitter layer 156 areformed from a material with a larger dielectric constant than a materialused to form the emitter elements of the first emitter layer 154, thenthe thickness in the depth direction of the two emitter layers may beapproximately equal.

The direction light is emitted by the grating antenna 152 can be tunedby setting the gap distance, d_(g), the separation distance, d_(s), andalso an offset distance, d_(g), which is a distance that the center ofthe emitter elements of the second emitter layer 156 are offset relativeto the center of the emitter elements of the first emitter layer 154.For example, to tune the emission direction to be vertical in the upwarddirection, the offset distance, d_(o), is approximately ±λ_(eff)/4+mλ/2,, wherein λ_(eff) is an effective wavelength of light guided by thewaveguide and m is an integer, and the separation distance, d_(s), isapproximately λ_(c)/4+nλ_(c)/2, wherein n is an integer and λ_(c) is aneffective wavelength of light in the cladding volume. Other angles ofemission can be achieved by setting the offset distance, d_(o), and theseparation distance, d_(s), to different values. For example, as shownin FIG. 12, the first offset distance, d_(o), is positive, meaning thelight traveling from left to right through the waveguide firstencounters the first emitter layer 154, not the second emitter layer156. This results in the majority of the light being emitted in anupward vertical direction. If the offset distance, d_(o), is instead setto be negative, meaning the light traveling from left to right throughthe waveguide first encounters the second emitter layer 156, not thefirst emitter layer 154, then the majority of the light emitted by thegrating antenna 152 is emitted in a downward vertical direction.

The emitter elements of any grating antenna used in example opticaldevices may be formed from various materials. For example, silicon,silicon nitride, poly/amorphous silicon, liquid crystals, aluminumnitride, indium titanium oxide, metals, or germanium may be used to formemitter elements. In some embodiments, a material used to form a gratingantenna above a waveguide core may have a higher index of refractionthan a material from which the waveguide core is formed. Additionally,as discussed above, if a perturbation layer of a grating antennaincludes multiple emitter layers, then each emitter layer may be formedfrom different materials. For example, a first emitter layer that isnearer to a waveguide core than a second emitter layer may be formedfrom a material with an index of refraction that is less than the indexof refraction of a material used to form the second emitter layer.

To change the emission rate along the waveguide core 150, the gapdistance, d_(s), between the waveguide layer and the first emitter layercan be changed. Changing this distance is independent of the profile ofthe layers themselves so new lithography masks do not have to befabricated to change the emission rate of the antenna from wafer towafer. Furthermore, changing the gap distance, d_(s), does not changethe directionality of the emission because the directionality isdetermined by the horizontal and vertical offset of the emitter layers154 and 156. Changing the gap distance, d_(s), allows for a robust andinexpensive way to tune the emission of light from an optical device.

Phase Shifter Pitch Reduction

Electro-optic phase shifters are waveguides (e.g., formed from siliconwaveguide cores) that are embedded with p-n and p-i-n diodes using, forexample, ion implantation. Within the waveguides, electrical field basedDC Kerr effect and/or plasma dispersion effect alter the refractiveindex of silicon waveguide core causing a controllable phase shift forlight guided by the waveguide. To efficiently fabricate a compactoptical device that includes an array of phase shifters, the phaseshifters should be scalable to large arrays. Referring to FIG. 15, aprior art optical device 160 includes multiple waveguides 162, eachwaveguide having an associated phase shifter 164 that has a pitch thatis greater than the pitch as the waveguides 162. With a phase shifterpitch that is greater than the pitch of the waveguides, it is necessaryto include a “zig-zag” in the path of the waveguides 162 to accommodatethe phase shifters 164 or some other waveguide route that uses a largersurface area than simple parallel waveguides, such as a fan-out or afan-in. The area used by the phase shifters 164 therefore increases asthe number of waveguides increases, reducing the fill factor of theoptical device. The optical device 160 includes a light-emitting region166 that includes at least one antenna for each light path associatedwith a respective waveguide 162. By reducing the pitch of the phaseshifters, the fill factor can be increased such that the light-emittingregion 166 consumes a larger percentage of the area of the opticaldevice 160.

Referring to FIG. 16, an optical device 170 includes a multiplewaveguides 172, each waveguide having an associated phase shifter (anarray of phase shifters 173 being represented by a box, for the sake ofclarity) within a phase shifter region 174, and the phase shifters ofthe array of phase shifters 173 having a pitch that is equal to thepitch of the waveguides 172. For the sake of clarity, the waveguides arenot shown in the phase shifter region 174. The optical path formed froma waveguide in the phase shifter region 174 also includes anotherwaveguide, possibly at a different depth level, within a light-emittingregion 176.

Two contacts are required to drop a voltage potential across p and nsides of the diodes of a phase shifter. However, contacts are made outof metals that are not transparent to portions of the optical spectrumof interest (1.1 μm <λ<3 μm). Thus, when tight pitched electro-opticphase shifters are used, metal contacts used to bring signals to thediode used to induce a phase shift create undesirable losses in theoptical device 170. This is because the optical mode of the waveguideoverlaps more with the volume occupied by the metal contact. When thepitch of the phase shifters is less than one wavelength of the lightguided by the waveguide, and especially as the pitch approaches one-halfof one wavelength of the light guided by the waveguide, the metalcontacts should be moved farther from the waveguide core to ensure themetal contacts are isolated from the guided mode of the waveguide. Onesolution to efficiently bring the voltage potential from the metalcontacts to the diodes is to use highly doped, low resistancesemiconductor contact extension regions, which have less optical lossthan metal, in the vicinity of the waveguide core. This may be achievedby extending the silicon of the diode in a vertical direction to formraised semiconductor pillars that are in contact with a metal contact ata distance greater than one-half wavelength from the waveguide core. Thesemiconductor pillars may be extended in an upward or a downwarddirection. The semiconductor pillars can be etched from a silicon waferor epitaxially grown and are doped to with the same dopant type as theside of the diode in which it is in contact.

Referring to FIG. 17, an optical device 180 includes waveguide cores181-183 in an array of parallel waveguides. The waveguide cores 181-183can be formed, for example, from intrinsic silicon, undoped silicon, ordoped silicon. The waveguide core 181 is in physical contact with ap-type semiconductor region 184, the waveguide core 182 is in physicalcontact with a p-type semiconductor region 185, and the waveguide core183 is in physical contact with a p-type semiconductor region 186. Thewaveguide core 181 is also in physical contact with an n-typesemiconductor region 187, the waveguide 182 is in physical contact withan n-type semiconductor region 188, and the waveguide core 183 is inphysical contact with an n-type semiconductor region 189.

A semiconductor contact for the p-type semiconductor region 184 isformed from a p-type semiconductor contact region 190 and a p-typesemiconductor contact extension region 191, both having a higher dopantconcentration than the p-type semiconductor region 184. The p-typesemiconductor contact extension region 191 is extended in a downwardvertical direction, such that a bottom surface of the p-typesemiconductor contact extension region 191 is below a bottom surface ofthe waveguide core 181. The depth of the bottom surface of the p-typesemiconductor contact extension region 191 may be, for example, 250 nmor 800 nm below the bottom surface of the waveguide core 181. A metalcontact 192 is in physical contact with the bottom surface of the p-typesemiconductor contact extension region 191 and is configured to bringelectrical signals to the p-type semiconductor region 184.

A semiconductor contact for the p-type semiconductor region 185 and thep-type semiconductor region 186 is formed from a p-type semiconductorcontact region 193 and a p-type semiconductor contact extension region194, both having a higher dopant concentration than the p-typesemiconductor region 185 and the p-type semiconductor region 186. Thep-type semiconductor contact extension region 194 is extended in adownward vertical direction, such that a bottom surface of the p-typesemiconductor contact extension region 194 is below a bottom surface ofthe waveguide core 182 and a bottom surface of the waveguide core 183.The depth of the bottom surface of the p-type semiconductor contactextension region 194 may be, for example, 250 nm or 800 nm below thebottom surface of the waveguide core 182 and the bottom surface of thewaveguide core 183. A metal contact 195 is in physical contact with thebottom surface of the p-type semiconductor contact extension region 194and is configured to bring electrical signals to the p-typesemiconductor region 185 and the p-type semiconductor region 186. Themetal contact 195 is shared by the diode associated with waveguide core182 and the diode associated with waveguide core 183 such that adjacentwaveguide cores share one contact with each other.

A semiconductor contact for the n-type semiconductor region 189 isformed from an n-type semiconductor contact region 196 and an n-typesemiconductor contact extension region 197, both having a higher dopantconcentration the n-type semiconductor region 189. The n-typesemiconductor contact extension region 197 is extended in a downwardvertical direction, such that a bottom surface of the n-typesemiconductor contact extension region 197 is below a bottom surface ofthe waveguide core 183. The depth of the bottom surface of the n-typesemiconductor contact extension region 197 may be, for example, 250 nmor 800 nm below the bottom surface of the waveguide core 183. A metalcontact 198 is in physical contact with the bottom surface of the n-typesemiconductor contact extension region 197 and is configured to bringelectrical signals to the p-type semiconductor region 189.

A semiconductor contact for the n-type semiconductor region 187 and then-type semiconductor region 188 is formed from an n-type semiconductorcontact region 199 and an n-type semiconductor contact extension region200, both having a higher dopant concentration than the n-typesemiconductor region 187 and the n-type semiconductor region 188. Then-type semiconductor contact extension region 200 is extended in adownward vertical direction, such that a bottom surface of the n-typesemiconductor contact extension region 200 is below a bottom surface ofthe waveguide core 181 and a bottom surface of the waveguide core 182.The depth of the bottom surface of the n-type semiconductor contactextension region 200 may be, for example, 250 nm or 800 nm below thebottom surface of the waveguide core 181 and the bottom surface of thewaveguide core 182. A metal contact 201 is in physical contact with thebottom surface of the n-type semiconductor contact extension region 200and is configured to bring electrical signals to the n-typesemiconductor region 187 and the n-type semiconductor region 188. Themetal contact 201 is shared by the diode associated with waveguide core181 and the diode associated with waveguide core 182 such that adjacentwaveguide cores share one contact with each other.

While the optical device 180 may be formed using many differentdimensions, one set of dimensions is provided as an example. Thewaveguides of the optical device 180 are configured to guide light witha wavelength equal to 1550 nm. The pitch of the optical device 180(i.e., the distance between the center points of each metal contact) isapproximately one-half of one wavelength. For example, the pitch may be760 nm or 800 nm. The waveguide core width, w_(w), is approximatelyone-quarter of one wavelength. For example, the waveguide core width,w_(w), may be approximately 400 nm. The distance, d, between a sidesurface of each semiconductor contact extension region and a sidesurface of a respective waveguide core is approximately 100 nm. Asemiconductor contact extension region width, w_(s), is approximately200 nm. A metal contact width, w_(c), is approximately 160 nm. Thesewidths may vary from waveguide to waveguide in order to introduce phasemismatch between adjacent waveguides. Accordingly, even within a singledevice, these widths may vary by ±50 nm.

In the semiconductor contact of the optical device 180, a concentrationof a respective dopant may vary as a function of depth. For example, theconcentration of a dopant of a particular semiconductor contact at thebottom surface of the semiconductor contact extension region may begreater than a second concentration of the dopant of the semiconductorcontact at the top surface of the semiconductor contact. In other words,the dopant concentration of the semiconductor contact is higher near themetal contact and lower near the waveguide core. The dopantconcentration may vary discontinuously or continuously with a smoothgradient. The semiconductor contact can be formed from, for example,silicon or silicon germanium and may be formed from the same or adifferent material than the waveguide cores.

While FIG. 17 illustrates semiconductor contacts that extends downward,in a direction away from the top surfaces of the waveguide cores,semiconductor contacts may extend vertically in an upward direction, inthe same direction as the top surface of the waveguide core. Referringto FIG. 18, an optical device 210 includes a plurality of parallelwaveguide cores similar to those of FIG. 17, but only a single waveguidecore 212 is shown for simplicity, which may be formed from undopedsilicon or doped silicon. A first side surface of the waveguide core 212is in physical contact with an n-type semiconductor region 217 and asecond side surface of the waveguide core 212, opposite the first sidesurface, is in physical contact with a p-type semiconductor region 213.The p-type semiconductor region 213 is in physical contact with asemiconductor contact that includes a p-type semiconductor contactregion 214 and a p-type semiconductor contact extension region 215. Ametal contact 216 comes from above and is in physical contact with thep-type semiconductor contact extension region 215. The n-typesemiconductor region 217 is in physical contact with a semiconductorcontact that includes an n-type semiconductor contact region 218 and ann-type semiconductor contact extension region 219. A metal contact 220comes from above and is in physical contact with the n-typesemiconductor contact extension region 219.

A top surface of the p-type semiconductor contact extension region 215and a top surface of the n-type semiconductor contact extension region219 are at a depth level that is above the top surface of the waveguidecore 212. For example, the depth of the top surface of eachsemiconductor contact extension region may be 250 nm or 800 nm above thetop surface of the waveguide core 212. The optical device 210 of FIG. 18has many of the same features as the optical device 180 of FIG. 17, butthe metal contacts 216 and 220 approach the diode associated with aparticular waveguide from the top.

Increased Depletion within Waveguide Core

In some embodiments, phase shifter waveguides the waveguide core may beformed from an n-type semiconductor region and a p-type semiconductorregion. The resulting n-p-n-p junction structure may result in awaveguide core with increased electron-hole depletion in the waveguidecore resulting in less optical loss than the p-i-n structures describedabove. A phase shifter with the n-p-n-p junction may use theaforementioned semiconductor contact extension technique to keep themetal contact isolated from the vicinity of the waveguide core.

Referring to FIG. 19A and FIG. 19B, an optical device 230 includes awaveguide core 232 that includes an n-type semiconductor core region 233and a p-type semiconductor core region 234. The dashed line of FIG. 19Aillustrates the cross-sectional plane used to form the cross-sectionalview of FIG. 19B. The n-type semiconductor core region 233 has alongitudinal portion that extends in the longitudinal direction alongthe length of the waveguide and is not as wide as the width of thewaveguide core 232 and a transverse portion that is the entire width ofthe waveguide core 232 and extends in a transverse direction that isperpendicular to the depth direction and the longitudinal direction.Thus, the overall shape of the n-type semiconductor core region 233 isan “L-shape.” The p-type semiconductor core region 234 has alongitudinal portion that extends in the longitudinal direction alongthe length of the waveguide and is not as wide as the width of thewaveguide core 232 and a transverse portion that is the entire width ofthe waveguide core 232 and extends in a transverse direction that isperpendicular to the depth direction and the longitudinal direction.Thus, the overall shape of the p-type semiconductor core region 233 isan “L-shape.” The n-type semiconductor core region 233 and the p-typesemiconductor core region 233 together form a rectangular shape. Thewaveguide core 232 includes multiple n-type semiconductor core regionsand multiple p-type semiconductor core regions repeated in the samearrangement along the length of the waveguide core 232.

Adjacent to the n-type semiconductor core region 233 is a p-typesemiconductor region 235 that extends longitudinally along the length ofthe waveguide core 232. The p-type semiconductor region 235 is inphysical contact with both the n-type semiconductor core region 233 andthe p-type semiconductor core region 234. Specifically, p-typesemiconductor region 235 is in physical contact with the longitudinalportion of the n-type semiconductor core region 233 and the transverseportion of the p-type semiconductor core region 234. A level of a topsurface of the waveguide core 232 is above a level of a top surface ofthe p-type semiconductor region 235 in the depth direction.

Adjacent to the p-type semiconductor core region 234 is an n-typesemiconductor region 238 that extends longitudinally along the length ofthe waveguide core 232. The n-type semiconductor region 238 is inphysical contact with both the n-type semiconductor core region 233 andthe p-type semiconductor core region 234. Specifically, n-typesemiconductor region 238 is in physical contact with the longitudinalportion of the p-type semiconductor core region 234 and the transverseportion of the n-type semiconductor core region 233. A level of a topsurface of the waveguide core 232 is above a level of a top surface ofthe n-type semiconductor region 238 in the depth direction.

The p-type semiconductor region 235 is in physical contact with a p-typesemiconductor contact region 236, which is in contact with a metalcontact 237. The n-type semiconductor region 238 is in physical contactwith an n-type semiconductor contact region 239, which is in contactwith a metal contact 240.

Staggered Phase Shifter Contacts

By staggering the contacts of the phase shifters, the pitch of the phaseshifter may be decreased in contrast to when the contacts of the phaseshifters are not staggered. Referring to FIG. 21, an optical device 250includes multiple waveguide cores 251-254 disposed in an array orientedperpendicular to a longitudinal direction. Each waveguide core of theplurality of waveguide cores is elongated in the longitudinal direction,which is shown vertically in FIG. 21. The array is oriented in thehorizontal direction such that each waveguide of the array is to theleft of the right of at least one other waveguide of the array.

Multiple diode signal contacts (S_(i), S_(i+1), etc.) are disposed in afirst signal contact array 255 oriented in a transverse direction thatis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. A respective waveguidecore separates each signal contact from an adjacent signal contact. Forexample, waveguide core 251 separates signal contact S_(i) from signalcontacts S_(i+1). The array of signal contacts is oriented in thehorizontal direction such that each signal contact of the array is tothe left of the right of at least one other signal contact of the array.Thus, each signal contact has a position within the array, the positionsbeing labeled across the bottom of FIG. 20.

Multiple diode ground contacts (G_(i), G_(i+1), etc.) are disposed in afirst ground contact array 256 oriented in the transverse direction. Arespective waveguide core separates each ground contact from an adjacentground contact. For example, waveguide core 253 separates signal contactG_(i+1) from signal contacts G_(i+2). The array of ground contacts isoriented in the horizontal direction such that each ground contact ofthe array is to the left of the right of at least one other groundcontact of the array. Thus, each ground contact has a position withinthe array, the positions being labeled across the bottom of FIG. 20.

Multiple diodes are formed in an array perpendicular to the longitudinaldirection, wherein each diode of the plurality of diodes includes afirst diode ground contact from the first ground contact array 256, anda first diode signal contact from the first signal contact array 255.For example, a first diode is formed from the signal contact S_(i),which at a first position within the array of signal contacts, and theground contact G_(i), which at a second position within the array ofground contacts. Thus, in the example shown, the diodes are formed usingcontacts that are staggered relative to one another because they are notat the same position within their respective array.

In some embodiments, the signal contact array 255 is one of multiplesignal contact arrays and the ground contact array 256 is one ofmultiple signal contact arrays. FIG. 20 illustrates one additionalsignal contact array 257 and one additional ground contact array 258. Itshould be understood that what is shown in FIG. 20 is only a portion ofthe optical device 250 and additional arrays may be repeated in thevertical direction and the arrays themselves may include more elementsin the horizontal direction.

In the optical device 250, diodes within a column are isolated from oneanother using an electrical isolation material. Thus, each column ofdiodes, which corresponds to a respective waveguide, are independentlycontrolled. In other embodiments, each signal contact array of themultiple signal contact arrays is independently controlled. This can beachieved by including an additional electrical isolation component thatis formed from the same material as the waveguides between each array ofdiodes. Referring to FIG. 21, which is the same as FIG. 20, but with theaddition of additional electrical isolation components 260-267. Theelectrical isolation components 260-263, for example, electricallyisolate the diodes in the diode array N+1 from the diodes in the diodearray N.

Other Considerations

Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit ofthe disclosure and appended claims. For example, individual elements ofoptical devices described above may be used in other application ordevices not discussed. Additionally, individual elements of opticaldevices described above may be combined in ways not described in detailabove.

Some of the example embodiments described above were described as usinglight with a wavelength of approximately 1550 nm. Embodiments are notlimited, however, to any particular wavelength. For example, someembodiments may use light at longer wavelengths, such as approximately10 μm, which penetrates fog better than light with a wavelength of 1550nm. As a further example, it may be advantageous for some applicationsto use light in the visible spectrum. Accordingly, light with awavelength in the range of 550 nm-750 nm may be used. It should beunderstood that if different wavelengths of light are used, thematerials and dimensions of different components will be different fromthose described above in connection with particular example embodiments.

Also, as used herein, “or” as used in a list of items prefaced by “atleast one of” or prefaced by “one or more of” indicates a disjunctivelist such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C,” ora list of “one or more of A,B, or C,” or “A,B, or C, or a combinationthereof” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B andC), or combinations with more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC,etc.).

As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function orparameter is “based on” an item or condition means that the function orparameter is based on the stated item or condition and may be based onone or more items and/or conditions in addition to the stated item orcondition.

As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a parameter is“approximately” equal to a value means that the parameter is equal tothe value or some other value within a 20% range of the stated value.For example, if a distance is “approximately equal” to 1000 nm, then thedistance may be equal to any value within the inclusive range 800 nm to1200 nm.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of example configurations (including implementations).However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known fabrication techniques, processes, andstructures, have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations provides a description for implementing describedtechniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangementof elements without departing from the spirit or scope of thedisclosure.

Components, functional or otherwise, shown in the figures and/ordiscussed herein as being connected or optically coupled with each otherare may be directly or indirectly connected or optically coupled.Meaning, there may be additional elements, not shown or described,between the components that are connected or optically coupled.Components, functional or otherwise, discussed herein as being inphysical contact do not have additional elements between the componentsthat are in physical contact with one another.

Having described several example configurations, various modifications,alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departingfrom the spirit of the disclosure. For example, the above elements maybe components of a larger system, wherein other rules may takeprecedence over or otherwise modify the application of the invention.Also, a number of operations may be undertaken before, during, or afterthe above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above descriptiondoes not bound the scope of the claims.

When describing embodiments in reference to the drawings, directionreferences (“above,” “below,” “top,” “bottom,” “left,” “right,”“horizontal,” “vertical,” etc.) may be used. Such references areintended merely as an aid to the reader viewing the drawings in a normalorientation. These directional references are not intended to describe apreferred or only orientation of an embodied device. A device may beembodied in other orientations.

Several example configures include waveguides. Not all descriptions anddrawings include a discussion of the cladding of the waveguides. It isto be understood that a waveguide is formed from a waveguide core and acladding that is in physical contact with the waveguide core. Thecladding may be a cladding volume that surrounds multiple waveguidecores and is formed from a material that has a lower index of refractionthan a material used to form the waveguide cores.

Further, more than one invention may be disclosed.

What is claimed is:
 1. An integrated optical device comprising: awaveguide cladding volume; a waveguide layer within the waveguidecladding volume, wherein the waveguide layer comprises at least onewaveguide core that is elongated in a longitudinal direction, whereinthe at least one waveguide core and the waveguide cladding volume form awaveguide; and a perturbation layer within the waveguide claddingvolume, wherein the perturbation layer comprises: a first emitter layercomprising a first plurality of emitters displaced from the at least onewaveguide core in a first direction perpendicular to the longitudinaldirection; a second emitter layer comprising a second plurality ofemitters, wherein the second emitter layer is farther from the waveguidecore in the first direction than the first emitter layer.
 2. Theintegrated optical device of claim 1, wherein the perturbation layer isseparated from the waveguide layer by a first separation distance thatis greater than zero.
 3. The integrated optical device of claim 2,wherein the first separation distance is less than a single wavelengthof the first light which the first waveguide is configured to guide. 4.The integrated optical device of claim 1, wherein the first emitterlayer is separated from the second emitter layer by a second separationdistance that is greater than zero.
 5. The integrated optical device ofclaim 4, wherein the second plurality of emitters is offset by an offsetdistance in the longitudinal direction relative to the first pluralityof emitters.
 6. The integrated optical device of claim 5, wherein theoffset distance and the separation distance is configured to emit lightfrom the waveguide in a single direction.
 7. The integrated opticaldevice of claim 6, wherein the offset distance is approximately±λ_(eff)/4+m λ_(eff)/2, wherein λ_(eff) is an effective wavelength oflight guided by the waveguide and m is an integer.
 8. The integratedoptical device of claim 6, wherein the second separation distance isapproximately λ_(c)/4+nλ_(c)/2, wherein n is an integer and is aneffective wavelength of light in the cladding volume.
 9. The integratedoptical device of claim 1, wherein: each of the first plurality ofemitters has a first length in the longitudinal direction; and each ofthe second plurality of emitters has a second length in the longitudinaldirection, wherein the second length is different from the secondlength.
 10. The integrated optical device of claim 1, wherein a firstthickness of the first plurality of emitters is less than a secondthickness of the second plurality of emitters, wherein the firstthickness and the second thickness are in the depth direction.
 11. Theintegrated optical device of claim 1, wherein the first plurality ofemitters are formed from a first material and the second plurality ofemitters are formed from a second material that is different from thefirst material.
 12. The integrated optical device of claim 11, wherein adielectric constant of the second material is greater than a dielectricconstant of the first material.